


Skies and Smiles

by SarIIon



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Character Study, Complete, F/M, Light Angst, Photography, Romantic or platonic, can be read as, mostly Mahiru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 01:59:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18790714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarIIon/pseuds/SarIIon
Summary: Blue skies + smiles is her favorite combination. And, despite everything, the island has plenty of both.But...she just can't seem to capture the happy smile of a boy who's constantly grinning(Mostly a Mahiru character study)





	Skies and Smiles

                Mahiru grinned as she opened the cottage window, letting in the early morning sunshine and fresh sea breeze. The gentle splish splash of waves hitting the wooden supports of the dock and the faint calls of faraway birds were the only sounds in the air, but somehow, the morning was full of life, like it always was.

                5:00 am, her watch reported as she quickly got dressed and tucked her camera into its carrying case before checking her reflection in the mirror and heading out the door. If she walked quickly she would be able to catch some pictures of the beautiful island at dawn before the muted, soft lighting of the early morning sky was exchanged for the energetic rays of the day.

                An orange butterfly caught her eye as she scanned the plants growing near the beach, and blinking in delight, she held her breath, carefully following the insect with her eyes as it landed on a cluster of half open white flowers. Her camera made only a soft click as she captured the moment forever before the creature flitted away to light upon another plant nearby. _A tiny, glowing snapshot of a special moment in time._

                The group of islands they were currently on was rather small in comparison to many that she had studied over online maps in the past. Yet…it held so many new scenes and environments she never had the chance to photograph before. She couldn’t imagine what amazing things larger islands or other countries held. _If only Dad wasn’t such a good for nothing, lazy bum_. She sighed dragging herself back to reality.

                Things weren’t so simple in real life. There was no way she could leave him alone, after all, she did all the cooking and cleaning, paid the bills, and even fixed appliances when they broke. _The house might be a disaster right now…._ She grimaced at the memory of the electric fire Dad caused when he last tried to cook. She needed to get back as soon as possible—they really couldn’t afford a new stove—but, there wasn’t much she could do at the minute since everyone on the island was so divided on what to do _. I might be here for a few more days._ She sighed, attempting to mentally recall an image of the pantry _. We should have enough instant ramen to last him one or two weeks…and putting on the electric kettle is far safer than the stove…_

                Well, while she was here, she might as well make the most of it.

                Mahiru grinned, making her way toward the island store to grab a quick breakfast fruit cup before trekking into the taller plants on the other side of the statue. 5:30 am. She still had a bit of time before the others began to stir.

~.o.~

 _Brilliant blue skies look amazing paired with smiles._ It was something she discovered when she was younger, looking at her mother’s photography spread across the carpet.

 _Blue skies._ The island had beautiful, glowing blue skies which framed fluffy white clouds in a sea of azure in the air. And even after the strange bear had shown up throwing the bizarre trip into chaos, the skies remained cheerful and happy. In a way it seemed like the island itself was cheering them on, even if Monokuma tried to get them to turn against each other.

                And today was no exception. In fact, the sky was almost blindingly blue against the ocean. Hurrying along to meet the others at the restaurant, she smiled happily.

_Perhaps…perhaps today was the day._

~.o.~

 

                “Mahiru,” Nagito hesitated after the red head swung by for the third time that day, interrupting his train of thought. “Why are you taking so many pictures of me today? There’s no need to keep records of scum like me when there are so many hope filled smiles on everyone’s faces.”

_Nagito…he was the only one. The only one she hadn’t managed to capture a happy smile for._

                She stopped and turned toward him, letting the camera drop on its strap against her hip after she reviewed the picture through the digital display.  “Geez…you’re a boy,  y’know? That means you should grow a spine.” She frowned, leaning forward to stare intensely into his eyes.

                “If it brings someone amazing like you hope—” he instinctively averted his gaze slightly from her fierce, burning stare before she cut him off.

                “A blue sky and a happy smile is my favorite pairing _…_ so I wanted to _…_ ” She frowned, pushing a thick envelope into his hands before folding his fingers over it. “Here, some photos of everyone I printed out, as a thanks for letting me take pictures of you.”

~.o.~

                Plugging in the memory card, she sighed, clicking the most recent images to sort them into the folders on her storage drive. “Geez…Dad’s rubbing off on me…cowardly. Why didn’t I just tell him?”

                >Nagito:> Images= 46

                She hadn’t erased a single photo, even the few which were blurry from sudden movement. It was just that…little moments captured in photographs only exist in them. Once a picture is erased, she could never capture the special moment again, so, long ago, she decided to keep them all, every single photo she ever took.

                In almost every picture, Nagito was smiling.

                Just like everyone else, the Ultimate Lucky Student had a range of smiles. The slightly cheerful but unnatural grin which he plastered on his face whenever he knew she was taking pictures, the maniacal smile he adopted when rambling on about hope and Ultimates, the provocative smirk he used to goad others in the direction he wanted…and lastly the soft, blissful smile which touched his face when he watched Hajime and the others work together to solve problems.

                Human smiles were something she could capture all day, and she treasured all of them, because no matter the type of smile…in that snapshot moment in the photograph, the subject was strong—strong enough to smile despite everything.

                Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but favor genuine happy smiles over the other types…and even Nagito’s softer smiles betrayed the bittersweet touch of sadness.

                “Photos depict everything, whether it’s beautiful or horrible, whether the subject knows it or not. There’s a truth contained in pictures.” Her mom used to say, pointing out minute details “And it’s up to the photographer to understand that truth, even if the subject doesn’t.”

                The photographs Mahiru printed for him were all her favorite shots of the class together…Nagito included. She had crouched over the display, spending hours carefully choosing the photos, and yet…as she wrapped his slender fingers around the envelope, encouraging him to take it, she already knew. She already knew it wouldn’t change anything.

                That deep truth hidden in plain view…

                That deep truth hidden from even the subject himself…

                She wasn’t exactly sure what the slight furrow of a brow, the faintest hesitation in his posture, the olive eyes tinted with wistfulness betrayed—and it wasn’t her business to know.

                Nagito was an enigma. She didn’t really understand his actions or his words or his ideas. His motivations betrayed an underlying instability which made her worry he would pull something stupid, and sometimes, he made her so mad she wanted to punch him. But despite everything…

                Despite everything…

                She still wanted to capture his true smile.

                She sighed, leaning back in her chair to stare at the bright afternoon sky outside the window. _The sky was blue._ Unlike the foggy blue-greys of the city, the sky on the island was always bright—a brilliant, glowing blue. Such clear skies almost felt like a dream. The island itself seemed to be cheering her on through a song of pellucid waters and wispy clouds. How spineless would she be if she gave up now? Grinning, Mahiru inserted a new memory card into her camera and headed out the door.

                The skies were too breathtaking for her to sit inside and think. That could wait.

                Such beautiful skies deserved to be enjoyed with complementary radiant smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> -She’ll get that picture eventually, I’m sure of it.  
> -I wanted to write some more character interactions, and this one was the first scenario I thought of when thinking how Mahiru and Nagito would interact. It’s a tiny bit angsty, but I kinda like the idea.  
> -Headcanons: Mahiru wakes up at 5 am every morning (just seemed right), and she does basically everything around the house (the idea is kinda hinted at a tiny bit in one of her interactions which would explain why she’s always pushing the guys to man up essentially)  
> -Tbh, this kinda turned into a little bit of a character study on Mahiru which I don’t mind since I do think she’s a little underrated. She’s not perfect, but she really means well. I didn’t quite finish this in time for her bday, but eh, I tried :D  
> -As always, if you have any constructive criticism or cute, fluffy prompt ideas, feel free to drop a comment below! They make my day <3


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